The transformation of the former roller skating rink above the Adams Morgan Harris Teeter into 39 lofty apartments is almost complete and the new project will welcome its first residents on May 4th. It will be called the Citadel Apartments.

A living room at The Citadel.

The building at 1631 Kalorama Road NW (map) opened in 1947 as the National Arena and served as a public roller rink and bowling alley before becoming the Citadel Motion Picture Center in 1986. In February, Tom Lenar from R2L:Architects told UrbanTurf that his firm has been involved with the building since 2004, when the Harris Teeter moved in. Owners Douglas Development contacted R2L last year with the task of creating apartments that fit the unusual space directly above the market.

The dome of the building reaches a ceiling height of 20 feet, so the architects designed units that step up to lofted sleeping areas to make the most use of the heights. (In some units, the ceilings reach to 32 feet.) A ring of 31 apartments surround a center block of eight more. The residences on the perimeter have sleeping lofts at the back, and the eight central units, which have no access to the perimeter windows, will be lit by skylights.

The apartments at the new project range in size from 600 to 835 square feet. Rental rates start at $1,935 a month (all utilities included) and top out at $2,500 a month.